Daily Archives: June 1, 2007

Well, isn’t litigation wonderful? If your doctor hurts your feelings, it looks like you can sue for damages – at least, if you live in the UK.

UK patient: doc hurt my feelings by telling me to quit smoking

And she wins about $80,000 (plus attorneys’ fees) for her hurt feelings. Mrs. G delayed her caesarean a few minutes to have a pre-op cigarette; her coughing made her epidural more difficult, and Mrs. G and was criticized by anesthesiologist Dr. A, who noted the increased likelihood of surviving to see her daughter’s wedding if Mrs. G quit smoking. (Arthur Martin, “Doctor’s smoking jibe wins mother Ã‚Â£44,000 payout”, Daily Mail, Dec. 21; Kevin MD blog). UK medical compensation has grown 30,000 percent in under ten years.

The article continues with a story about a man fired for missing too much work. But it wasn’t as interesting to me as this one. The above story does remind me of the wonderful lady who worried about the effect of nearby jackhammers on the health of her unborn child. (via Blog of Stupidity)

If you are interested in MMORPGs, you might want to hit the Warhammer Online:Age of Reckoning site and sign up for a beta test spot. Testing should start soon, and at least initially will be by invitation only. (via Joystiq)

Geeks need cool, useless toys. I’ve covered that often enough here on the site that it should be pretty clear already. Many times, I’ll find cool toys that I don’t comment on or post, just because I find about 3-4 gadgets and toys a day. But occasionally, I find a toy that’s just too useless and cool to not mention. Today, I point out the USB plasma ball.

Absolutely no use, true, but really cool. Especially for us older geeks – a throwback to our youth days when these things were more common. (via Tingilinde)

CATS are easy to photograph-if you can tap an unlimited supply of patience. Beyond that, all you need is a camera (I prefer a reflex) with flash attachment. An assistant, portrait lenses, a tripod and a flash extension are helpful, but by no means essential.

The best place to work is a spot the cat likes best and the best time is just after he has eaten. When the cat gets down to the business of washing, you can start clicking. Set up your equipment beforehand and keep backgrounds plain. If the cat happens to like a spot in front of a cluttered background, stretch a sheet behind him.

Isn’t that picture just screaming for a LOLcat caption? I’m imagining something like “Plz 2 find t3h water is getting m3h”, but I’m a bad LOLcatographer. I don’t know how photographers in 1931 got their captions on images, but these seems to be the earliest sign of the coming LOLcat meme.

[tags]LOLcats – the early years, Scientific American covers LOLcats in 1931[/tags]